Flying high
by fruity.tooty
Summary: //New Summary// Set five years later. After being in denial, Hitomi finds her way back to Gaea without a memory, but when it comes back to her she finds that everything has changed and she'll have to fight once more for what she wants. Please review!
1. A good goodbye

Hey! This is my first songfic, and when I heard this song, I immediately thought of Van and Hitomi.

I do not own Esaflowne or The Vision of Escaflowne or anything that comes along with it. I do not own the lyrics or the song "Flying High" by Jem.

Well here it goes! Hope you like it :D

This is actually based on the TV series (it's so much better). There may be spoilers so watch out ;)

It was finished. It was finally over. No more fighting.

_You can't know, oh no  
you can't know_

Hitomi tried not to cry as she looked up at Van with a tear running down her face. She had been avoiding eye contact with him.

_how much I think about you, no  
It's making my head spin_

He walked over to her and wiped the tear away. He pulled her chin up to him. They stayed like this for a moment before he said, "We will see each other in the future. Our fates will intertwine once more."

_Looking at you  
and you are looking at me  
_

_and we both know what we want  
hmmm, so close to giving in_

She couldn't keep the tears in any longer. He pulled her close into an embrace while she cried on his shoulder. "I'll come back. I swear I will."

_Feel so nice  
oh yeah you feel so nice  
_

_wish I could spend the night  
but I can't pay the price  
oh no, no_

"Afterschool. In two more years, I'll come back. It will just be two more years of high school and then I'll come back." She pushed away from him and forcefully wiped her face. She wanted to be strong, as hard as it was.

_But I'm flying so high  
high off the ground_

"You don't have to do that." Hitomi looked up at Van and saw him starring at her.

_when you're around  
And I can feel your high_

"W-what?" she took a few steps back. She could not believe it. Was he telling her he didn't want her to come back?

_rocking me inside  
it's too much to hide_

"I mean… I know you have a life on the mystic moon… I know you belong on the mystic moon. You don't have to come back here. Well if- if you don't…"

_I know, oh yes  
I know that we can't  
be together_

Hitomi jumped into his arms once more. She kissed him flatly on the lips.

Shocked, Van rapped his arms around her waist.

_but, I just like to dream  
It's so strange  
the way our paths have crossed_

What was he saying? He would do anything to make her stay. He knew that the two years that she would be gone would be like a living hell.

_how we were brought together  
hmmm, it's written in the stars it seems  
_

He held her so tight he thought she was going to break. She was so delicate.

Hitomi thought back so long ago, before she came to Gaia. Before she had met Van… was there a time when she didn't know Van? She couldn't picture a life without him.

_Feel so nice  
oh yeah you feel so nice  
_

_I'd love to spend the night  
but I can't pay the price  
oh no, no  
_

"I'll come back. I promise."

Van could see tears in her eyes and pulled away for a few moments in order to brush them away.

_Back to earth  
where did you take me to_

"Shhh, don't cry. It's like you said. We will meet again. You know there is no one else but you. Come back to me, and we can rebuild Fanelia together. I can't picture it with anybody else but you."

Tears were welling in Hitomi's eyes again. Why did it have to hurt so much to love?

"I want you to have something."

_I know there's no such thing  
As painless love_

Hitomi pulled away for a few moments to pull a necklace over her head. "I want you to have this"

_well it'll catch us up  
and we can never win  
_

Van was surprised to see her give him her pendant. "But… won't you need this to come back?"

_But ohhh  
I feel so alive  
_

Hitomi met his eyes and he could see how hard she was trying to prove how strong she was.

"If it's meant to be, I will come back to you without the pendant."

_ohhh  
Just wanna hold you  
hold you so tight__  
_

Van was very surprised. He held the pendant tightly in his palm and clenched his fist. He could feel tears sliding slowly down his cheek. He pulled her close for one final hug and she wrapped her arms quickly around his waist.

_And I'm flying so high  
_

He held his clenched fist high in the air and Hitomi held on to him as tightly as she could not wanting to leave him.

_high off the ground  
when you're around_

A giant green pillar of light surrounded them. Hitomi was screaming inside her head. She didn't want to leave. Her hair and skirt were violently blowing in the wind the pillar of light was causing. She knew she had no choice.

_  
And I can feel your high  
_

Van looked up at Hitomi as she started to leave the ground.

_touching me inside_

"Van!" she yelled as she was lifted into the air. Quickly she stuck her hand out for him to grab.

_and it's too much to hide_

He held her hand for a few short moments while the scared look on her face slowly faded.

_Flying so high…  
_

She read his lips as she started flying higher and higher and farther away from the boy she loved. Her heart warmed as she swore to herself that she would be back.

"_I love you…"_

xD

After reading this over after I wrote it I thought it was a bit cheesey 

It was kind of sitting at the back of my mind for a while…

Alright, so I'm thinking of making this into an epilogue for a story on what happens when Hitomi returns to Gaia (is that how you spell it ?). Please review and tell me what you think!

P.S please tell me if you also thought that it had a bit too much repetition in it please? Thanks so much!!! PLEASE REVIEW???

Oh yes and buy the CD for Jem or look this song up or something because it is the prettiest song in the world. Thanks!


	2. Lost memories

Okay, so I made a songfic to the song flying high, and I thought "Hmmm maybe I could make some more chapters to go along with it so it won't just be a songfic." Yes so I decided to make a chapter (and more to come) to go with it!Thank you to those who reviewed to the songfic one ; ) that made me very happy!

Thank you again and please enjoy!

* * *

**BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP**

Her eyes flashed open quickly with a quick grasp of air escaping her mouth. She had had another bad dream again. This had been her – 5th one in a row?

**BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP**

Her eyes closed tightly again as her alarm still went off. She glanced over and saw how it was 7:30 am. She had thirty minutes to get to work and not be late.

She punched the alarm and stood up slipping her feet into the slippers beside her bed. She looked around at the all too familiar room of her childhood bedroom.

She had forgotten how she had been staying in her parent's house for the past week.

She quickly pulled some clothes over her body rejecting the idea of having a shower and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth quickly and pull a brush threw her hair. She found a hair elastic and put it in her below shoulder length hair and looked at herself in the mirror for a few minutes.

This is who she had become.

She hardly recognised herself anymore. It was as if she was living in the shell of someone else's life.

The past six years since she left Gaea had been a complete blur. She was now a woman with a job and a place of her own –although she never really used it seeing as though she had been staying at her mom and dad's place for the past week and on and off during the past three months. But that's not the point. The point was that she had moved on. She hardly even thinks of him anymore.

"Hitomi! You're going to be late for work! Remember what happened last time that happened?!"

Hitomi heard her mother calling from down the stairs and was quickly snapped back into the present.

"Coming!"

* * *

Just her luck. She had missed her bus. Now she was DEFINETLY going to be late for work!

She felt like crying. Things were definitely not going her way. Come to think of it – when had anything ever gone her way?

She started to speed walk. _It's a 30 min walk and if I walk really fast I might be able to make it in 20-25 minutes... _but she still only had 10 more minutes to get to work without being fired.

"DAMMIT!" she yelled scaring a few pigeons beside her.

She sat down on the bench and leaned her head back. _Maybe… if I just sit here… my problems would just go away…_

Her thoughts trailed off as she saw a feather slowly falling from the clouds above her head.

She stared up at it as it became closer and closer to her… her breath was slowly caught in her throat as it landed on the brief case sitting on her lap.

Memories slowly began to fade back into her mind as she could feel her body beginning to tense. Those were memories she had tried hard to push into the back of her mind for the good of her well being.

Hitomi felt her self flying away but her body was still on the bench.

Her eyes had clowded over like she knew something was about to happen and then..

"Hitomi? Is there something wrong?"

She was quickly snapped back into the brutal reality as she lifted her head back into position and looked at the man who was standing right in front of her.

It was her boss' so, Marc. The really cute one who had dark brown hair and brown calm eyes… He always reminded her of someone she knew once before but she didn't really want to go into that at the moment.

"No… I'm ok. Just really tired, and I missed my bus." She said sitting up and looking at her lap where there had been a feather.

"Oh, well you don't want to be late. I can drive you if you'd like." He said giving her a sweet smile.

He was a couple years older than Hitomi and worked at the same work as her for his father. He lived not too far away from her parent's house and had a really nice car she would always see him in when she was in the bus.

"Thank you that would be nice."

* * *

"Thanks again for the drive this morning. I really appreciated it." Hitomi said with a forced smile. Truth been told, she had known for a while that her boss' cute son had had a crush on her since she started working for that newspaper two years ago.

"No problem. If you'd like, I could drive you home." He said nervously. She knew this would be coming soon. Or you know... something along the lines of it.

"No, that's ok… I think I might walk. It's too nice of a day out to not take advantage of it." That wasn't really a lie. She had been telling herself that she would start walking once the weather had begun to get nicer. It had been a rough winter and even though the wind was a bit bitter still in late March, there had definitely been a drastic change in the climate.

"Well, actually what I meant was maybe… you would like to go to dinner with me tonight… or you know… anytime really." Marc said unsure of how to continue.

Hitomi started to get an easy feeling in her stomach just like earlier that morning and held onto it tightly. He didn't seem to notice though. He seemed too nervous to care about her well being.

"Umm… I'm really sorry but I'm actually seeing someone at the moment." GAHHHHHHH why did she have to say THAT? Anything but that!

As she was kicking herself mentally on the inside he was hurting himself on the outside. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" He said slapping his hand to his head for the fifth time. "I should have known. I mean, you are very beautiful. I should have known you were taken." He said flustered.

Hitomi wouldn't look him in the eye. Why had she said that? She knew very well that she wasn't seeing anyone.

What would give her that idea?

"Well I guess I will see you tomorrow then. Listen Hitomi, I'm really sorry. I hope this doesn't make things awkward between us. I still want to be your friend."

With that he walked away leaving her standing on the sidewalk by herself.

She hadn't been planning to walk home, but now as she thought about it she would really like to instead of taking a bus.

She had changed so much since high school. Her hair was now running down her back in light brown/blond wavy locks and the way she dresses was a little more feminine as she grew out of the little tomboy she used to be. She no longer runs on a team anymore seeing as though she was now 21 years old, but she doesn't even run in the mornings like she used to.

She was wearing a beige trench coat type of jacket and a white blouse over a knee length baby blue skirt. As she got older she felt like she was running away from the free loving teenage girl she used to be. She was so different now… There was no going back.

She walked by the gardens her mother used to take her when she was younger and decided to go in. She hadn't been in there for ages, even though she passed it everyday going and coming from work.

Maybe she could find herself here.

As she walked in she saw a family. There was a mother and a father, and they were sitting down on a bench surrounded by flowers as they watched their daughter running around feeding and chasing the birds.

Hitomi looked at the little girl in her sundress and hat and tried to remember when she was that old.

She couldn't.

It was as if somebody had wiped her memory away when she got back from the other world… She couldn't remember anything.

Hitomi got really scared all of a sudden. She felt herself Hyperventilating and decided to keep walk until she found a free bench. It didn't take her long though; she found one maybe three minutes later. It wasn't exactly free though. There were some birds perched on the arm rests and she quickly shooed them away.

She gasped as she saw a large white feather floating down from the sky to land on the bench.

This would not be so strange to just anyone, but the pigeons who were sitting on the bench could not have had a feather so large on them.

She knew exactly where it came from when as she looked up into the sky to where an invisible planet should have been.

* * *

There you have it! I made one: D

Please review! Reviews are actually the only reason why I make stories in the first place. Seriously. It makes me really happy to know that someone actually enjoyed it and I'm not making a story for my own benefit.

Thank you again! Please review!


	3. Running

Hey again! I really hope you like this chapter.This is the last chapter leading up to when Hitomi goes to Gaea, and I really think it's an important one. I really hope you like it! xD Please review; it's the only way I'll write!

Ps. I don't own escaflowne, or the vision of escaflowne, or anything.

* * *

**BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP**

She looked at her clock. It was 7:30 am.

Déja vue all over again. Just like every other morning of her life.

She turned over in bed and hit her fist over the top of the alarm to shut it off. She laid back in bed and stared up at the ceiling. She was in her parents' house again. She really had to start staying in her own apartment once in a while. There was a reason why she bought it in the first place.

Five minutes later she sat up and grabbed some clothes out of her dresser drawer and walked out into the hall and into the bathroom around the corner.

She had a quick shower and dried off and put her clothes on. She left her hair wet, hanging past her shoulders in a way that showed anyone who looked at her that she didn't care about her appearance at all.

She looked at the mirror and sighed. She looked exactly like she did yesterday. Nothing ever changed. She even had the same frown she had yesterday.

She walked down the stairs and met her mother sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee. "Hitomi, you're going to be late for work. Remember the last time that happened?" Her mother asked looking up from the morning paper she read every morning.

Déja vue again.

"I know, I'm already late for the bus." Hitomi said in a non-caring voice.

She slowly made her way out of the house, down the steps, onto the sidewalk and walked the few yards to the bus stop.

She knew that she had missed the bus. Why did she even bother?

She sat on the bench just like every other day and looked up to the sky. _Why me? Why does this always happen to me?_

She looked up as a man stood right in front of her.

"Fancy meeting you here." Marc said flashing her a dazzling smile.

"Hey. I missed my bus. Again." Hitomi said not wanting to look him in the eye after turning him down the previous day.

"Do you want a drive? I'm parked just around the corner. I really don't mind at all." He said looking at her curiously. "Are you okay? You don't look so well." Not the best thing to say to the girl that you want to go out with.

"I don't know… I don't really feel like myself. She said looking away.

"Well you don't have to come into work today if you're feeling sick. I can even tell them that you're sick so that you don't have to call them." Said Marc. He wanted to do anything to help her out.

"That would be great. Thank you." She said sitting up. Truthfully she felt fine. She felt the same way she felt everyday she was about to have another day of life wasted away. She felt bored.

"Do you need help getting back to your house?" He said breaking her thoughts.

"No… I'm fine thanks." She said getting up. She started walking back the way up to her parents' house.

He watched her walking away. That was one woman he did not understand. It was almost as if she was off in another world.

* * *

Mrs. Kanzaki heard footsteps and looked up from the paper she had resumed reading. She immediately thought that it was an intruder seeing as though her husband and her daughter were both at work and her younger son was in school still.

She walked to the drawer where she kept the kitchen utensils and pulled out the first thing she felt and turned around quickly.

With spatula in hand she gasped as she saw her twenty-one year old daughter coming through the kitchen door crying.

Dropping the spatula she ran over to where her daughter stood and wrapped her arms around her.

"Shh… shh.. stop crying darling, and tell me what's wrong. I want to help you." She said in a caring voice ushering her daughter to the seat at the kitchen table. She was almost about to get her to sit on her lap, but seeing as though Hitomi was not a little child anymore and that she was taller than her mother now, Mrs. Kanzaki felt like she would break her lap.

"What's wrong? Did something bad happen to you on your way to work?" She asked with concern in her voice.

"No… I just… nothing has changed. I'm the same. My life is the same. My job is the same. Everything is the same. It's like nothing will ever change! It's like I'm just wasting me life waiting to just grow old and DIE. Nothing good ever happens anymore. I'm not excited to wake up and go through another day. It's just… not worth it." Hitomi finally just let everything out that had been bothering her for so long.

"Oh my poor baby, I know exactly how you feel. You're probably missing something you used to love when you were younger aren't you? I used to feel the same way when I had children. I used to love to paint when I was younger, and once I had children I didn't have time to do it anymore. Maybe you should look around the house for something that you used to love to do, and I'm sure you will feel better." She said squeezing her daughters hand in a loving way.

That was a perfect idea! That was exactly what she needed! All this time she had been looking for something in the future to change but really she just needed something from her past! Yes!

"Thanks mom!" Hitomi yelled standing up and jumping on her mother in some kind of hug.

"No problem. Maybe you should look in the attic at your old childhood toys. I'm sure you will find something up there." She said yelling after her daughter as she ran up the stairs. "Okay mom! Thanks again!"

* * *

Okay. That didn't help at all. She thought it was such a good idea at the time, but once Hitomi got up into the attic and through all the boxes labelled "Hitomi's baby toys" and "Hitomi's Barbie's" she found nothing that she really wanted or missed.

Sighing, she stood up and walked around the attic looking at all the old junk up there. Her mother had been telling Hitomi's father to go up there and clean forever, but he had never gotten to it, naturally.

She coughed as a bunch of dust clouded over her face as she opened an old photo album she found in a box labelled "Oldies".

She was about to put it back down until she saw something fall out of it onto her socked feet.

It was an old black and white photo of a woman in a kimono and a beautiful pendent around her neck.

Shock ran through Hitomi's head as flashbacks raced through her mind.

_She saw a vision older woman who looked just like Hitomi sitting on a step handing a younger version of Hitomi a pink pendent telling her of a story when she went to another world._

Hitomi came out of the flashback with a thud and pain through her head as she realised that she was on the ground of the attic and not on a step talking to an old woman.

She looked around the room quickly as her eyes landed on the fabric that was in side the box she had gotten the photo album out of. It was beautiful fabric and once she touched it shock ran through her mind again as another flashback came back to her.

_There was a green light coming down to the ground from a cloudy sky with a planet barely visible with a moon circling it._

_There was also a man dying in the snow and the young woman that was in the black and white photo Hitomi had seen earlier came down in the pillar of green light and stood by the man. They talked for a bit- but Hitomi couldn't hear what they were saying._

_The man in a last motion before his death handed the teenage girl a small pink pendent before he died and the young woman vanished._

For the second time, Hitomi found herself on the floor of the attic.

Shock ran through her remembering the vision she had had.

It wasn't the shock of seeing her grandmother coming through a green pillar of light, but it was the shock of seeing the world in the sky. It was the mystic moon. And the planet she was in – that was Gaea.

How had she forgotten?

She ran out of the attic and down the stairs into her bedroom where she threw the blue kimono and the picture onto her bed. She pulled the duffle bag she used to use when she ran in high school out from under her bed and put the kimono and the picture into it. She quickly pulled the work clothes she was wearing and through it in her bad also.

She went through her dresser and found an old pair of running shorts and a baggy shirt and pulled them quickly over her head.

She raced down the stairs onto the main floor and went through the closet to find her old pair of running shoes she used to wear but she couldn't find them.

Mrs. Kanzaki walked through the door to the kitchen and looked confusedly at Hitomi "What are you looking for?"

"MY SNEAKERS." She yelled, not trying to be mean, but she was kind of in a hurry.

"Oh, you mean your old running shoes? I went through that closet and through out all of the shoes nobody used and put them in a garbage bag."

Hitomi looked as though she was about to die, or had witnessed something terrible.

"NOOOOOOOOO!"

She ran out of the back door and out onto the step where they usually kept the garbage bags.

There was nothing there.

"WHERE ARE THE GARBAGE BAGS???" She yelled to her mother who was looking at her in shock out of the back door.

"Oh, it's garbage day, so I put them out by the front door. This morning…"

Before she could say anything else, Hitomi was running around their house to the front of the house where she saw the garbage bags.

She went through them until she found the bag with the old sneakers in them. She tore it open and looked through it for her old favourite pair of running shoes.

After ten minutes she found them and quickly pulled them over her socked feet that were now really dirty from running around outside.

"What in the world…?" Her mother questioned as she ran up to her and gave her a huge hug and a kiss. She had a huge smile on her face and her mother couldn't help wonder what had happened in the past hour since her daughter had been crying in her arms.

"Thank you mom, you don't know how much you helped me." She said giving her mother another kiss on the cheek. "I had forgotten everything… but now I remember. At least I remember most of it…" She trailed off as she thought of the huge blank spot she still had in her memory.

"I have to go now." She said finally. She saw the complete shock that was plastered on her mothers face and thought that it was best not to stay long, or she wouldn't want to leave at all.

"I have to go. I'm not happy here, but I will miss you, and dad, and my brother so so much. More than you know. But I will be watching you from far away, wondering how you are. Don't worry about me. I'll be happy." She said smiling.

She turned and started walking away just realising now how cold it was outside in her shorts and short sleeved shirt.

She felt a chill run down her back as she realised she might not be back here. She didn't exactly know where she was going still, or what she was missing that was there, but she thought that once she would get there, she would know, and she would not regret getting there.

Once she got to the front of her yard she turned around and looked at her mother who was still where she had left her.

Right then, there was a understanding that passed between them. Hitomi might not have known where she was going at the moment, or why, but her mother knew. She knew the stories her own mother – Hitomi's grandmother – used to tell her about. The stories of a world that was invisible to us.

It was a world with many mysteries.

* * *

She didn't know how long she had been ringing for. It had been probably over three hours she thought wishing she had brought a hair tie or a ribbon or something to tie her hair up with. She had never had the problem of tying her hair up when she was a runner in high school because her hair was always really short.

She was tired, she was hungry, and she didn't think she could go on any longer. She didn't even know where she was going. She was just letting her feet take her where they wanted to go, but it seemed as though they didn't really have a good mind of her own. Her feet had taken her by the route of where her high school was. She didn't remember it ever taking her this long to get to school everyday, but then she remembered that she had to take a subway to school every morning with her best friend Yukari.

She felt a twist of pain rushed though her. Yukari. She missed her so much. After high school she had moved to the United States to live with her boyfriend, Amano.

She had lost touch with Yukari once she had started her work at the newspaper company. She hadn't even thought about her in a few months.

Things had really changed. She had thought that she was in love with Amano before… but really, she was in love with someone else – but who was it? For some reason her mind hurt when she thought about it. It was as though something was missing.

Hitomi stopped running and leaned against a huge lamppost. She was really tired. She wished had brought money with her or something. She could have taken a bus home, or maybe a subway like she did when she was in high school.

Home. Why did she leave? She had made her mother think that she was never coming back. What had she been thinking?

She looked around her. This place was really familiar.

For the third time that day sharp pain ran through her head as she saw a vision of herself running on this track over five years ago. _She saw Amano in front of her holding a pink pendent… Yukari was in the stands cheering her on, and then she felt herself running down the track. She could hear Amano counting down and she could see the pendent swinging in perfect time. She was running as fast as she could and then there was a green light that came from the sky right in front of her and a boy that held out his hand…_

She knew what she had to do. She knew why she was here. She had to try to get back to the planet named Gaea.

She put the duffel bag on her shoulder a little better and ran down the steps to the track her high school used to use.

To her surprise there was a starting block on one of the tracks. _That's weird… _She thought; _somebody must have forgotten it when they ran last._

But then another thought came to her head; _or maybe I was meant to find it here._

She pushed the duffel bag a little tighter to her body as she bent down into the starting block. It would be hard to sprint with the duffel bag around her but she would have to try. She had no other choice.

She closed her eyes and immediately pictured the pink pendent in her mind swinging in perfect time.

She heard a voice in her head counting down. It was Amano's, _just like the last time,_ she thought.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1. She jumped out of the starting block and exhilaration ran through her body.

Her duffel bag swung behind her as her shoes grabbed at the track.

She felt her body getting lighter and lighter until she couldn't feel the bag behind her or she couldn't feel her feet hitting the ground anymore, but she knew she was still running.

She opened her eyes and felt something in her hand.

It was the pink pendent.

How did it get there?

She looked in front of her as she saw a green light forming in front of her. She was running towards it at her top speed and when she was about to reach it she pushed her hand out in front of her and gripped the hand of the person that was standing in the pillar of light waiting for her.

She felt panic strike her as she started floating.

* * *

YAY. That was really long ; D I'm so happy it worked out. Thank you for reading it! I'll post another chapter ASAP.

I don't know if this was really interesting to you or not, but I had a lot of fun making this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it!

Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, review. Seriously, I will NOT write another chapter unless I get reviews. What's the point in writing a story nobody reads/ likes?

Thanks again! oxox


	4. A place for yourself

New chapter! The next one will be up in close to an hour.. Hopefully. Hope you like it!

* * *

It was bitterly cold.

She was lying on the cold earth panting. Snow was lying all around her and her mind was foggy.

Her headd was pounding. It felt as though she had hit it when she landed.

_Landed? _Where was she?

She slowly opened her eyes to the sky and saw a tall figure looking down at her. "W-where am I?" she asked uncertainly.

"You're home." The mysterious man said as he lifted her up into his arm like a bride.

_This is nice_ she thought suddenly feeling a tickle at her face. She opened her eyes after closing them for a moment and saw brilliant white feathers.

_This man is an angel._ She thought as she slowly drifted back to sleep.

_He's my Guardian Angel._

* * *

Her eyes were heavy and she felt like she had been sleeping for a long time. She tried to open them, but they wouldn't move. 

She could hear voices all around her and could feel a strange tug at her heart. It was as though her heart could feel something that she didn't know about. It was as though it had a mind of its own.

The presence of the room grew quieter as someone told them to stop talking so loud. She heard a voice say; "Shh, she needs her rest. Now get out of here and I'll tell you when she is awake."

That's when she drifted back into a long sleep once again.

* * *

She was in a bad mood walking around the castle. She had a horrible head ache that had been plaguing her for the past couple of days. 

She had to find Van. She had to tell him something she saw just a few minutes ago.

She raced through the newly re-built castle until she had to stop and catch her breath. She should stop running. The guests that were staying in the castle wouldn't like to see one of the inhabitants running around. They would start to panic.

She turned a corner to where the hallway was where the library was located and slowed down. Van's study where you could usually find him reading up on some Fanelian history was inside the library. There was a large wooden door hidden in the back of the library that had all of Van's favourite books in it. It was like his personal library.

She walked into the library and looked around quickly.

There was no one there.

_Of course there wouldn't be._ She thought pushing the eerie feeling away. _There wouldn't be anybody in the library at this hour of the night._

She walked to the back of the large library and towards a hidden door. She opened it not even bothering to knock and met with the man she had been looking for.

"Merle?" Van asked looking up from the book he had been reading. "What are you doing here? It's late…"

"I should be asking you the same thing!" She said putting her arms in the air with exhaustion. "Don't you ever sleep?"

Van was tired and had been staying up lately. He couldn't get any sleep and so he had been coming to his study every night to get his mind off things.

There was an awkward silent while Merle looked at Van crossly and Van just looked around the room.

"Well…? Is there something you want?" Van asked trying not to be rude. "Oh yes! I completely forgot!" She yelled forgetting why she was there in the first place. She was too used to catching him in his study when he should be getting some rest.

"You must come with me. There some…thing I have to show you." She said taking the book out of his hands and laying it on his desk. "Merle, can't it wait for the morning? I was just about to get some sleep…" _Lie…_ "No it cannot! Come with me now or I'm going to have to force you." She said stiffening and showing him her claws.

Van sighed. He was too old for these childish games now. He was almost twenty two now. He was the king of a whole country and he shouldn't be running throughout the halls while he had guests in his house. They would think that there was something wrong.

He stood up and Merle grabbed his wrists and pulled him towards the doors. Once she got outside of the library she started to run. Van was confused to why she was in such a rush. There couldn't have been something too important or she would have told him right away. That or a guard would have told him.

They had been running for about five minutes when Van started to realise where they were going. They were heading towards the medical wing. Well- it wasn't exactly a wing. Just a large room with three beds in it, where they usually put people in when they were injured or sick.

Van started to panic now. _Was someone sick? Is that why Merle wouldn't tell him because she was too sad? Had someone died?_

Van started running faster when he came to the door of the medical wing. Merle panting right behind him. He slowly opened the door and his heart stopped as he saw Millerna, Dryden and Allen all look over at him with pained faces. Chid was right behind them kneeling over a bed that was occupied by someone he couldn't see. He slowly made his way over to where they were standing not daring to look at the bed where there was a person lying, maybe dead.

He looked at Allen who was now standing right bedside him with confused eyes. He patted Van on the shoulder and turned out of his way so Van would be able to see the woman lying in the bed clearly.

When he saw her, a lot of things passed through his mind so quickly that he could hardly think straight. He stumbled over to the bed and Chid quickly got out of his way.

This woman he had been dreaming about off and on for over a month. It was this woman that had kept him from sleeping because it hurt too much to see her when he couldn't have her. It was this woman who he had taken five years to get over.

And now she was back.

* * *

HAHAHA. Cliff hanger! Sorry this chapter is so short but I wanted to leave it here to leave you with suspense! I'm about to start the next chapter now so hopefully it will be up by the end of today! I stayed home sick today so I could do this so that's what I'm going to do. I hope you likes it! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. REVIEW. 

It's actually like the only way I'll write another chapter. Who wants to write for nobody? NOT ME.

REVIEW.Thank you!


	5. Silence

Okay, well I got this chapter today just like I promised. I'm kind of in a writing mood so maybe I'll write the next chapter right after this one! Hope you like it!

* * *

Hitomi was scared. She awoke from her deep sleep in a strange room with nobody around her. She pushed herself up from the comfortable bed and felt an immediate rush of cold.

She wasn't wearing her shorts and t-shirt anymore, but a night gown that went down to her knees. She immediately felt embarrassed. _Has someone changed my clothes for me? _She thought. _Has someone seen me naked?_ She gulped.

_Not time to think about that!_ She thought inwardly punching herself in the head. She had to find her duffel bag and try to find a way out of here. She put her feet on the cold stone and immediately regretted it. It was _freezing_.

She looked around the room quickly and saw a robe lying messily on the bed next to hers. She ran over to it and pulled it over her bear arms. _I hope nobody minds my borrowing this. _It was a beautiful robe. Light peach silk with beautiful designs over it. It was obviously expensive.

She looked back to where she had just been lying and wanted to go back. It was so warm inside the covers and she felt herself shiver a little.

She turned around and started walking towards the door that went out into the hall.

As she was walking through the door a woman was walking in and se bumped into her with a yelp. She fell to the floor and looked up to see who she had hit.

A beautiful woman a few years older than herself with long blond wavy hair and an elegant dress looked down at Hitomi.

This woman looked important.

"Excuse me? Could you tell me how to get out of this place?" She asked innocently. The woman just stared at her confused.

"Hitomi… you don't remember me?" She asked, hurt in her voice.

"Umm, excuse me? How do you know my name?" Hitomi asked as politely as she could. She had never seen this woman before. She would remember a woman that beautiful. "Oh! I'm sorry is this your robe? You must have left it here on this bed and it was really stupid of me to just pick it up and use it. I should have asked before hand. I'm sor-"

She was cut off as a man walked slowly into the room. She looked at him once and her whole body started to scream. He was very tall and handsome. He had messy black hair and a strong, lean build.

He was like nothing she had ever seen before.

He looked at her for a long while with an unreadable look on his face. He then turned to the woman who Hitomi had run into and she quickly whispered something into his ear. Hitomi thought that these two people were very good friends by the way they were close and talked openly.

The man shot up and stared at Hitomi again. She all of a sudden felt very stiff, like this man had a lot of authority.

"She has… lost her memory?" He said aloud somehow testing it on his lips after hearing the woman saying it.

Hitomi's mind started to swirl and she felt really dizzy all of a sudden. It was something to do with this man that made her feel sick. It made her question her sanity.

Had she lost her memory? She didn't think she had but… if this man said she has then he was right.

Her mind was racing. It felt as though there were memories at the back of her head trying to make surface. She quickly put a hand to her head to try to stop it from moving around so much.

The man was still looking at her and she saw that his eyes were almost red how brown they were.

"Hi- Hitomi?" He asked and she felt herself falling.

* * *

She woke up feeling stuffed up. Not through her nose, but her head felt like it was trying to contain too many things.

She opened her eyes and saw the woman from before sitting beside her on the edge of the bed. The woman looked down and smiled at Hitomi. She blinked in confusion.

She knew this woman. She had met her before.

And then it came to her. It was Millerna. From Gaea.

Hitomi was in Gaea.

She sat up quickly and looked around the room. Van was sitting on the bed farthest from them watching. "Van!" She yelled surprised. She turned back to the woman sitting on her bed. "Millerna… what- am I in Gaea?"

Millerna smiled down at her. "Yes you are. Welcome back.

Hitomi got up from lying down and crawled on the bed to where the window was at the opposite side of her pillows. She looked outside at the snow covered trees and ground. She didn't recognise this place.

"Wh-where am I?" She asked confused. She knew she was in Gaea but _where_ in Gaea? Van got up from where he was sitting and walked over. "You are in Fanelia."

At the sound of his voice, Hitomi turned around and stared at him. He was definitely not the Van she remembered. He was at least a good foot taller than she was and she was almost 5'4. His face was much more mature now. He was nicely built, not the skinny teenage boy she had once knew. His black hair was a little bit longer than she remembered, but his eyes were darker somehow… more sinister as if they knew something she did not. He was a man.

Hitomi suddenly felt self conscious as she realised she had been starring at him for a while. He was starring back at her as though it was a starring competition. He wasn't starring at her like she was something to be awed as she was him; He was starring as if he was saying "If you stare at me, I'm going to stare right back. I'm not afraid of you."

She wondered how differently she must look to them. She probably hadn't changed at all actually.

She looked at Millerna. She hadn't changed one bit either. Her hair was still as long and wavy as ever. Her eyes were still piercing blue. The truth of the reality was, was that this woman would stay looking young forever. "What are you doing in Fanelia?"

Millerna smiled and looked as if she was hiding something, like a secret. "I'm here visiting." She said smiling. "Dryden and Allen are here also. Do you remember them?"

Hitomi thought for a moment. Dryden was Millerna's fiancé when she left for earth. She wondered if they got married after all. She didn't think they would since Hitomi had told Millerna that Allen was the right man for her. "I remember." She said finally.

"My goodness! Hitomi, you have changed so much." She said with a smile. While she said that Dryden walked in with Allen and Chid. Merle was closely following behind.

"Oh yes! I forgot to tell you Chid was here!" Millerna said excitedly as the boy ran to the bed to sit next to Hitomi and his aunt.

"Hitomi I have missed you so much!" Chid said holding her cold hands.

Hitomi hardly recognised the boy she saw now. No- he was not a boy anymore. He was a young man. He looked exactly like his father… As Hitomi thought this she looked over to see Allen standing in front of her bed. "It's nice to have you back." He said with a sad smile. "We've missed you."

Hitomi looked away and frowned to herself. _Back_. She didn't want to come back. She had forgotten about Gaea and all the people here… Van… She didn't want to hurt anymore. There was always too much hurting. What had made her come back? She thought back to the day she had left. How long ago was that? It seemed like ages ago… but she had been sleeping the entire time. She remembered now. She had been running because she saw a photo of her grandmother and a pink pendent… yes! That was how she got back. How did she have it though? She had given it to…"

"Van." She said surprising herself as the word rolled out of her mouth. Everybody was starring at her. Hitomi looked up at Van and asked; "The pendent… what happened? How did I get here?"

"Van looked at her emotionless for a few minutes and then looked down at his shirt and pulled out a gold chain with a pink pendent attached at the bottom.

Hitomi struggled to think for a few moments when she discarded the thought that was entering her mind.

"How long have I been here…? How long have I been asleep?" She asked finally.

"Four days Merle said joining the conversation finally. She pushed past Dryden and Allen to get a better look at Hitomi sitting up in bed.

Hitomi suddenly felt very self conscious as the cat-girl looked her over. She was definitely not a cat girl anymore. She was more like a cat-woman now. She reminded Hitomi of the luck sisters. The ones that were half cat that Folken had saved. Merle was long and thin with curly pink hair that went past her shoulders.

"You look different." Merle said after her inspection.

"What?" Hitomi said surprised.

"You don't look like a little boy anymore." Merle said completely discarding the insult. Hitomi didn't know whether to be thankful or mad…she decided to take the better road. "Umm… Thank you? I think?" She said finally.

There was silence as everybody heard a rumble and looked at Hitomi as she looked down at her stomach.

"Are you hungry?" Chid asked curiously.

"Um yes… a little" Hitomi said not so truthfully. She was _very_ hungry.

She looked around at the room of people who were standing at her and watching.

Van was being very silent and looking in the other direction. She noticed that from what she remembered, Dryden wasn't the type of man who kept his opinion to himself and was shocked to not hear him talking.

"Well, why don't we get you up for lunch then? The sun is nearly fully in the air so it is probably diner time soon." Millerna said taking this time to be the good hostess of the home she did not own. "Let's get you up and into some proper clothes. Dryden, would you mind telling a maid to prepare a room for a new visitor? I can get Hitomi into some warm clothes of mine." She was standing up now and ushering everybody out the door. Van seemed a little too willing to oblige.

Hitomi was confused. She didn't really want to get up and eat with everybody else. It felt like she was intruding on their party or something.

But instead of getting up and running to the closest hiding place, she got up and followed Millerna out of the room.

* * *

Hopefully I can make a new chapter right away. I still have about another hour until my dad gets home from work and yells at me for being on the computer while I'm sick. I hope you like this one; I promise it will be getting much more interesting after this one.

Please review!


	6. The start of an eternity

Okay, so… I just finished reading this story on fanfic, and I'm kind of surprised at how I wrote it. I thought it would be a lot different.. like with the writing style and everything. It kind of seems like I'm rushing it a little too much. ???

Anyway, tell me if you think I'm rushing it a little too much. I'm going to try and stop.

This chapter is basically going to be explanations of everything. Sorry Van is such a poop, but it's all leading up to what I'm planning…Hopefully…

Thanks for reading.

* * *

Millerna led Hitomi through the newly rebuilt walls of the castle, and Hitomi was amazed at the beauty that only five years had made. 

They made their way into a room that was on the second floor. Millerna opened the door and Hitomi followed behind her. She looked around in amazement.

To her right there was a king-sized four poster bed with a soft curtain swept around it. The bed was beautiful; the wood headboard had unique designs in graded all over it, and the fabric of the comforter looked very beautiful and expensive. Straight ahead of Hitomi was a glass door that led onto a beautiful balcony.

Hitomi realised that Millerna was talking to her about what kind of dress she wanted to wear, but Hitomi wasn't listening. She was starring out the doors at the newly constructed country. It was beautiful. The castle was somewhat on a hill so it gave her a good view of the city below. The shops and houses were all painted white which matched perfectly with the godly looking buildings. Trees spread out all around the city to form a forest, where Hitomi knew there were dragons lurking inside. This city was beautiful. It completely took her breath away.

"It's beautiful…" She said not realising that Millerna had stopped talking for a while because of Hitomi's lack of attention to her. She walked over and stood beside Hitomi looking out towards the snow filled land. "Yes I know. Van did a great job reconstructing it. You should see it when the trees and the flowers start blooming."

Hitomi looked at her quickly completely forgetting the scene in front of her. "I'm not planning on staying long. As soon as I figure out how to go back to Earth I'm going." She said quickly aware of the bitterness she held in her voice.

Millerna was shocked. She was certain that once Hitomi was back, she would be staying forever. That type of travel was not the type you could do whenever you like. She frowned. Van would be hurt all over again.

"Why did… you come back?"

Hitomi looked at her surprised that Millerna who was always so sure of everything, and who always kept things to herself would ask her such a question. "I… I didn't mean to… I didn't know what I was doing…" She stuttered. It was as though someone had stolen her memory from her and the past three years have been a complete waste.

"Hitomi, when you woke up this morning the first time, you had no idea who we were. You were panicked, you…you fainted when Van said your name. And when you woke up again, it was like nothing had ever happened. What's going on?" Millerna asked genuinely concerned.

Hitomi was confused. She didn't know what was going on. Something was trying to get her here, back to Gaea. She had that feeling when she was looking in her attic and saw the picture, and when she was running and found the pendent in her hand. She hadn't wanted to come back. She didn't want that hurt again.

She explained this to Millerna and she was shocked. "You couldn't remember a thing? But… you were in love with-" "Don't. Please." Hitomi said quickly trying to hide the hurt in her voice.

All Millerna wanted to do was get to the bottom of this. She wanted to know what could have happened to Hitomi that could have made her so sad that she would have had to completely forget that past to keep herself from getting hurt. She looked over at her old friend and felt a twang at her heart. _She is so sad. _Millerna thought as her friend started playing with the end of the robe Millerna had leant to her. She was trying so hard to be strong. She must have been love sick.

"Millerna?"

Her thoughts were interrupted as she looked to her friend with a questioning face.

"Are you… I mean are you still engaged to Dryden? He hadn't spoken a word downstairs… I was wondering if he was feeling well." Hitomi asked uncertainly. She didn't know how to get into the subject of the personal life of a friend that she hadn't seen is years.

To Hitomi's surprise, Millerna laughed and walked over to her closet to start looking for a dress for Hitomi. "Of course I am no longer engaged to him." She stopped browsing through the closet and looked over to Hitomi. "We are married now. We have been for almost four years." She smiled at Hitomi before adding in; "Happily."

Hitomi was confused. Hadn't she told Millerna that Dryden wasn't the right man for her? That she should be with Allen instead?

Reading the expression on Hitomi's face, Millerna understood. "Hitomi… I know you told me that Allen was the right man for me but… I'm happy. Even if Dryden isn't the right man for me, I still love him. Probably more than I would have loved Allen."

By the look of her face, Hitomi didn't believe that Millerna was telling the truth. She couldn't understand. Had her cards been wrong? They had never been wrong before…

"You see…" Millerna continued. "Sometimes the right thing… is not always the best thin for you, or the thing that would make you the happiest. I think that's how it is with me and Dryden." She said a smile forming on her lips. "We are so not-so-perfect for each other that we fix the faults of each other. We are complete opposites. And somehow it works out… perfectly." Millerna couldn't stop smiling. She was truly happy.

There was a strange feeling in Hitomi's heart. If her cards had been wrong about this… had they been wrong about everything else also?

"Aha!" Millerna yelled in triumph pulling four beautiful dresses down from her Wardrobe. "These will look beautiful on you!"

Hitomi looked at the dresses but was very mildly interested in them. She wanted to know what else had happened in Gaea since her absence. When she asked Millerna, she looked up from her admiring the dresses and over at Hitomi. She looked like she was thinking a long time about what she should tell Hitomi and what she should not.

"Well… you heard about Allen's baby sister Serena? She is here and well. Most times she off with her maids. She acts so young and naïve. Allen hardly ever keeps his eyes of off her, afraid of losing her again. Though I did notice that she was not with him this morning when he was in the medical chambers to visit you. She was probably still sleeping…" She drifted off in thought and Hitomi thought of Serena. She had met her once while Fenelia was being rebuilt, right before she left.

"Oh yes! And Allen is now living in Freid most of the time. He is no longer a knight of Caeli. Father demoted him after he defied him during the war. He and Chid are so close now. He hasn't told Chid about being his true father yet, but I'm pretty sure Chid knows already. He's such a smart boy. Looks almost exactly like Allen." Millerna said smiling. She was always smiling. She looked so happy.

"He's so grown up!" yelled Hitomi surprised thinking about how he was almost as tall as herself when they were all downstairs. She thought of the young boy who would come ask her for advice and to read his fortune.

"And Merle. She has been travelling a lot. She is like Van's personal assistant. When he wants to talk to another country about a treaty or a trade or something along those lines, she will do it for him. She is faithful to him till the end."

Hitomi thought back to five years ago when Merle wouldn't let her get close to Van because she wanted to protect him. Hitomi smiled at the memories.

_No._ She thought trying to shake the memories away from her head. They had been locked up for so long to try to keep them concealed. She didn't want to be hurt anymore.

Millerna apparently saw this and frowned fighting with herself as to if she should bring something up she knew she would have to eventually.

"Hitomi… you know… when you left, Van was hurt. It took him a long time to get over you. It looks like he's been trying to do the exact same thing you have been- trying to burry hurtful memories."

Hitomi made a noise that sounded between disbelief and like she was disregarding her.

She didn't want to hear this.

"Hitomi, listen to me." Millerna said leaving the dresses on the bed where she was sitting and walking over to her. "You can't run away forever. As much as you don't want to you're going to have to face this. There was a past there… and there is still a present. I know this, Hitomi! You can't just run away from this. I saw it in both your eyes!" She said quickly cupping Hitomi's face in a motherly way. Hitomi was trying to turn her face and look away but Millerna was surprisingly strong.

"Hitomi, stop running away. Be strong. Don't let your fears get the best of you-" She said and let go of her head. Hitomi spun around and looked out the window holding her face as it grew hot.

"We should go downstairs. They're probably waiting for us."

Millerna was sorry for what she had done in the sense that she might have hurt Hitomi from holding on to her to get her to listen, but it had to be done. Somebody had to put some sense into that girl. If not, then she was going to hurt herself and Van even more, and he would just close off to everyone even more than what he had been doing for the past five years… and nobody wanted that. Not even Hitomi. Even if she didn't know it yet…

* * *

There you have it! I like this chapter because it gets a little deeper into what has been happening. It explains everything a little better as to not confuse you… Hope you like it! The next scene is going to be the lunch. I don't really want to rush into everything, so tell me what you think! Am I rushing the story? Please review! 

Thank you.


	7. Fly, fly away

Okay, I just changed the plot a little, so it may be a little confusing at the end of the chapter. Don't worry, if you keep reading, I promise it will get a little clearer. I don't want to give you too much information at the beginning. I'm not planning this to be a very long fic, because I have another story I've been thinking about a lot lately, so I want to get this one finished. Now that I have the plot all figured out, I have changed the summary…to make it sound a lot more interesting. Hope you like it???

Anywho, on with the chapter. It's very explanative in some ways… but confusing in others… hope you don't get too confused? Hopefully?

* * *

Hitomi turned around another corner in the castle trying to find her way downstairs to where Millerna had told her the dinning hall would be. She had been walking for a good twenty minutes by now and her feet, in the slippers Millerna had leant her were getting sore.

Hitomi inwardly cursed herself for not accepting the help Millerna had offered in escorting Hitomi through the unfamiliar Castle.

_Why do castles have to be built so large?_ Hitomi thought as she turned another corner.

She started to get an eerie feeling as she realised that the last few corridors she had turned onto were colder than the rest. They were also darker, because not as many candles were lit along the walls. She thought that there must not be a lot of people that go down that way.

Subconsciously, she started walking faster as she grew scared. To take her mind off of things, she looked at the paintings hanging lifelessly on the walls. There were paintings of soldiers and knights, but most of all she would see paintings of handsome looking men standing near large mounds on the ground, triumphantly. After passing three more of these paintings, she stopped to look more closely at them.

Hitomi gasped as she realised that the large mounds on the ground she had seen were dragons that had been slain. Those must have been the former kings of Fanelia who had gone through the ritual of slaying a dragon before becoming king. She wondered if maybe Van's painting would be hung up somewhere.

While she looked around for a sign of Van with a slain dragon, she came across a painting of a royal family. There was a strong looking king, who had a lot of happiness and pride in his eyes. His wife who was standing next to him had the same kind of happiness but her eyes also held a sparkle to them. She had long, black hair and was the most beautiful woman Hitomi had ever seen. Her hand rested on a young boy, maybe the age of six or seven. The other boy who was in the painting had short grey hair and a long face. He seemed to Hitomi to be about in his teens. She looked at the boy with the blue hair and couldn't stop thinking about how familiar he looked to her.

And then she had it. This was the most recent Fanel family. This boy who reminded her of someone was actually Folken Fanel, and the boy who was standing right next to him must have been…

Hitomi didn't know how long she had been starring at that photo until she heard a voice yell; "There you are, you stupid woman!"

Merle came running towards her and quickly looked at the painting Hitomi was looking at before grabbing her arm and dragging her away.

"I see you found yourself into the old wing of the castle." She said keeping her pace fast as she turned corners.

"The…old wing?" Hitomi asked confused. She had no idea there was an old wing.

"Yes. That was the only part of the castle that was saved when Fanelia was destroyed. We were really lucky that this was the part that was not destroyed because there are a lot of paintings in this wing- as you can see. There were also a lot of things that have sentimental value. The late Kind and Queen, Varie and Gaoh, their bed chamber was also around here somewhere… nobody ever goes into that room anymore. It has a lot of things from Van's childhood hidden in there also." Merle stopped talking and looked around a bit. She hadn't been in this part of the castle for a long time either. Van didn't like to come around here. It brought up memories he did not want to surface.

Hitomi looked at Merle with a confused look on her face, though Merle was too busy looking at the paintings as they passed. She didn't think that Merle would speak so openly to her about Van's past.

Since Merle was already in the mood to tell Hitomi about the history of Fanelia, Hitomi didn't think it would hurt to ask more questions. "You know those pictures? The ones with the old kings of Fanelia who had slain the dragons? Does Van have one of those?"

Merle looked at her with a blank expression showing on her face. She seemed to snap back into reality a moment later and looked away. Hitomi wondered If she had heard her question and when she was about to ask it again, Merle interrupted her.

"No… he didn't get a painting done because the day he came back and got coronated, Fanelia was attacked."

Hitomi could see the sadness in Merle's eyes and could tell that she wanted to drop the subject. Just as she had this thought, Merle led Hitomi into the dining room where there was a long table and people sitting all around it.

"How nice of you to join us." Millerna says with a smile. At first, Hitomi thought she was just being sour because Hitomi got angry at her and wouldn't walk with her down to the dining room, but now she can see with the look in Millerna's eyes that she is sorry for talking to her like that.

"I… Thank you." Hitomi says forcing a smile.

"Please sit down." She says playing the role of the host again seeing as though Van was more than willing to let her. Hitomi walks over to the empty seat next to Merle. Merle was sitting next to Van who was at the head of the table. Millerna sat on the other side of Van, with Dryden sitting next to her, across from Hitomi. Chid chose to sit next to where he knew Hitomi would be sitting across from his idol (and also his father), Allen. Beside Allen, Celena sat looking uncomfortable.

Hitomi looked at the seating arrangements and heaved a heavy sigh. So much time spent in arranging the proper seating arrangements for a breakfast that nobody usually met for.

When Hitomi moved to where she was about to sit, she noticed that there were a lot of people, most likely workers in the castle or maids, standing around the great dining hall looking at her.

She looked around uncomfortably and sat down, the men following suit.

"Merle...why is everybody looking at me?" She asks the cat-woman next to her. She casts an eye around the room once more as a servant came to serve her food, starring at her for a while before setting the plate down and retreating back to the kitchens.

Merle witnesses this and smiles. "It is because you are practically a legend. The girl who came from the Mystic Moon to save Gaea."

Hitomi was confused. Did they have her mixed up with another girl from the Mystic Moon?

In a daze, she looked around the table at the people smiling at her obviously overhearing the conversation she was having with Merle.

Hitomi all of a sudden at all the attention felt dizzy. She didn't want this… she wasn't the one that saved Gaea. She was just the one who had the horrible visions and made them come true. In a way she was the one who put harm to it.

Her breath came in big gasps and she found herself looking around the room wishing it would stop.

Her eyes fell on the only person in the room who wasn't looking at her.

Van, sitting at the head of the table with his eyes on his plate sitting in front of him untouched, was avoiding her eyes.

The habitants of the castle who were sitting at the table at that moment looked at each other with a concerned frown on their faces. Millerna looked back and forth between Hitomi and Van with a knowing frown on her thin lips. At that moment she made a vow to herself. In the end she would make things work out.

Hitomi felt tears coming to her eyes in her anxiousness. She wanted to go home. _To what? _She thought. She casted her eyes downward in a frustrated way. She had no home to go to. No happiness left for her back on earth. She had left there because she was unhappy. She looked back into the face of Van trying to keep the tears from flowing.

This time, when she looked at Van he was starring back at her.

She saw the same look of hurt in his eyes and she gasped in shock.

* * *

Van was walking in the garden behind the castle to clear his thoughts. He looked over the trees where he saw a flock of birds making their way through the sky. He wished he could join them. To fly away from all of the tension and duty that was waiting for him back in the castle. The birds flew high above his head and he almost ducked out of their way. Laughing, he wished that he could fly away with them. He wished he could spread his own wings and be free. He wished he could bring out what he had inherited from his mother and join with his fellow flyers.

He was about to spread his arms wide open when he felt a hand touch his shoulder. He turned around quickly to see Millerna backing away from him, laughing at the sight of him starring at the clouds and somewhat spinning around trying to catch the sight of all the birds..

"I'm sorry if I scared you." She said giving him a small smile. "May I join you?"

"Of course, but I was just about to head back inside." Van said trying to get away from the talk he knew would be coming as soon as he heard news that Hitomi was in the castle. Millerna smiled at him again and he knew he wasn't fooling her.

"Okay, but not too long. I still have a country to run."

"Thank you." She says.

They walked until they found a bench near a pond that is hidden by a large tree. Millerna looks up and watches two birds playing amongst the buds. "Spring is almost here." She says more to herself than to Van.

"Yes, the snow is almost all gone. Today is the warmest day we've had almost all season." He pauses to look up at the birds. "The festival will soon be starting." "Van." Millerna warns interrupting him on purpose.

He looks at her and she can tell that he has been thinking the same thing that she has for a while. "I know. I'm not sure what I should do… Hitomi says she isn't staying long but… I still can't stop thinking about it." He looks down, suddenly more interested in his hands then at the current topic.

"Van, It doesn't matter what your council says. In the end it's up to you. It's your choice." Millerna looks at him strongly. She knows how he must feel. She had been in an arranged engagement once before, and even though hers had turned out for the better, it may not work out for Van.

"You should tell her the truth. Hitomi disserves that. It's the least you could do."

Van looks at her for a long moment looking for answers, but Millerna's eyes held nothing but sadness and pity at the current subject.

"Van…the spring festival. You have to announce your wife by then. You have…" Millerna trails off waiting for Van to tell her how many days. Catching on after a bit Van says; "about two weeks before the guests start coming."

"Right. You have about two weeks before the spring festival, and you have a decision to make. You can either do what your council wants from you… or you can do what your heart wants. I know you still have feelings for her, Van. I saw the way you looked when you saw her laying on the bed, sick. Lying to everybody and, especially to yourself, won't do any good."

Millerna looks at him for a few moments expecting him to protest but seeing that he wasn't going to counter what she had said, she stands up and pats him on the back.

"I believe you'll make the right decision. I have faith in that." As she says this, she slowly starts to make her way back to the castle. Her husband must be looking for her.

Van's head spins for about the fifth time that morning, and it wasn't even mid-day yet. He would have never thought that he would ever have to make this decision ever in his entire life. He has to choose between two girls… one that was chosen for him to be the queen of Fanelia, and one who he loved once upon a time five years ago.

_Wait._ Reality steps up to the surface. _What am I thinking_? Five years is a long time. She obviously doesn't love him anymore. She didn't even remember him at all in the beginning. Millerna had told him that she had lost all of her memories on her own will, trying to forget everyone in Gaea. _Trying to forget me._

He was being so stupid. He didn't have a choice to make. It was already made. He was sure that Hitomi didn't love him anymore, and he was sure… that he didn't love her anymore either. Five years is a long time.

He kept telling himself this as he passed the garden looking at the dirt all around him where flowers would be sprouting with the sudden gust of warm weather Fanelia had been having for the past two days. This is how Fanelia goes. Sudden changes in the weather when a new season starts.

Van's mind drifts finally to the vision of Hitomi's face when he had looked up from his breakfast that morning. Hitomi's face… the face he had wanted to see for the past five years that had finally granted his wish.

And then he remembered how sad it had looked.

There you have it! I finally have the plot all figured out, so I hope you like this now. Please review! It's the only thing that keeps me going! Please!

Thank you!


	8. Forbidden springs

Hey again! Sorry it took me long to update this chapter, but I haven't been in the mood to write a lot lately. But luckily, now I am. This chapter is probably one of my favourites so far. I've been thinking about it a lot so I thought I might as well put it down on the computer. Thanks for reading! Hope you find time to review and tell me what you think!

* * *

A swift gust of air with the smell of blooming trees warned Van that spring was on its way. The air, which was an unfamiliar warmth since winter had a bitter bite to it which made Van cringe as he felt it harshly caress his flushed face.

He heard footsteps and quickly tried to mat his carelessly strewn raven hair. Since when had he cared about the look of his hair?

He shook the thought that was creeping through his mind and told himself he would answer it someday when he didn't have such a bad headache. Pushing his mind back to the subject of the person that was obviously eaves dropping on him he decided to hide behind a nearby bush so as he might do the same to them.

Jumping into the bush and realising that it was actually a rose bush - a rose bush with thorns – he had to muffle his yells of disapproval as the thorns gently poked at his bear fore-arms and face.

Remembering why he was in there in the first place, he peaked out of the bush and heard a few rustling noises as his stalker peeked out from behind their bush.

He jumped out of his bush surprising Merle who was cautiously looking around for her subject of prey.

"AHHHHHH! What in the name of Gods are you doing?!" She yelled, canine teeth threatening him.

"I should ask you the same question! What are you doing following me around the gardens?" He countered, wincing as he pulled small thorns from his shirt and hair.

"I was… just wondering what you were doing out here all by your self. The sun may be warm, but the wind is bitter cold." Merle replied with a shiver as if to show him what she meant.

"Am I not aloud to walk around my own gardens?" He asked slightly frustrated that everybody was trying to keep a very short leash on him.

"Yes… but you have been ignoring me and everybody else Van! It's as if you've completely forgotten that we are still here. You haven't even come to dinner once in the past three days." She paused for a moment as if trying to raise the courage she felt at the bottom of her gut. "And besides… you can't run away forever.." She dragged on trying to catch his attention as he started walking away towards the castle from which he had come.

"Van! Listen to me! Stop acting like a child!" As soon as she spoke those words she knew she had done something wrong. He slowly turned to face her with an angry and tired look on his face, as if he had been thinking, or had been told this many times before.

Merle knew she had hurt him. Van didn't have a very good childhood, since his father and mother died, and his brother ran away. He was forced to become a man far before his time. Forced to take the position of power before any young person should ever have such responsibilities thrust upon them.

Merle, angry with herself was surprised as Van just gave a huff and stormed off back in the direction of the castle.

Wide-eyed, she watched as the old, stubborn Van she had once known was slowly coming back. He was becoming the person behind the mask again. The boy she used to play with when they were young, and the boy who was shy, and knew when he was wrong.

As much as he was hiding, she could finally see him again. It was no longer foggy to her eyes. She could see the real Van.

* * *

"NO!" Came the yell that was heard all throughout the castle.

Hitomi, frustrated with the frills and bows Millerna was trying to put on her was refusing to try on another dress that morning. Not only was Millerna trying to pull a dress over Hitomi, but she was also trying to convince Hitomi to have a dress fitting so that she may wear a dress that actually fit her and that wasn't too long or too large in the bosom.

"Hitomi!" Came the reply as Millerna, frustrated herself was trying to pull the light pink silk garment over her head. She had just managed to put a bodice on barely getting away with all her five fingers attached to her hand as Hitomi, trying to breathe, was moving around uncomfortably messing up the tie at the back numerous times.

"What!? I don't want a dress fitting! I don't want to wear that ugly pink thing! But I do wish to breathe so could you please untie the corset so that I may have my lungs back?!" She yelled scaring off a few of the shy hand maidens. She didn't care though; she was too busy gasping for breath whilst shoving off Millerna and a few of the stronger and less shy maids.

"Girl, you have nerve talking to an elderly lady like that!" Came a catty reply from one of the older and wiser maids. "Back in my day, our tongues would be cut off with talk of insulting an expensive dress as your dear friend is offering to loan you. Be wise and shut that loud trap of yours!"

Hitomi scowled outwardly, but inwardly laughed at the woman whose name she had learned to be Ellerie. She had been the one to help her get up for the past week she had been here. Normally a maid wouldn't talk to a guest of the king like that, but they had a sort of… acceptance of each other. They both knew that they had loud and opinionated mouths that could go off at any moment and they had a bond in those ways.

Thinking of this, Hitomi let a little laugh escape her mouth and Ellerie and Millerna took this time to pull a measuring tape around her waist.

Once they were finished with their measurements, Hitomi slipped back into her normal clothes and decided to take a nap.

Walking to her bed she realised she wasn't tired and looked outside at the noon-hour sun and sighed.

As much as she didn't want to admit it, Hitomi was happy there, in Gaea. Even if she had not been able to be friends with Van again, she got to meet with all of her other friends.

Sitting down on the bed, she felt something at her heel. She looked down under the bed and pulled out the duffle bag she had thrown under there when she had arrived. Looking through it she found her old sneakers and smiled.

Suddenly she had an idea. Her grin grew as she looked outside once more at the beautiful day and quickly undressed into her running shirt and shorts she had brought. Pulling her shoes on quickly and tying them, she jumped up and out of her room.

Outside the air was stinging her face but in a good, refreshing way.

She felt as if she was discovering Fanelia all over again. It was as if she had never been there before. New sights came to her eyes as she passed through the town and through the woods.

Turning around, Hitomi decided to go back towards the castle. Running as fast as she could she felt the adrenaline pumping through her and became warm inside from the air pumping through her body.

As she made her way back up towards the castle, Hitomi saw a familiar path that she had once taken a long time ago. Not knowing where it led to, she turned right deserting the path which would have taken her to the castle.

Running down the familiar yet unfamiliar path, Hitomi couldn't remember why this place tweaked at her heart so much.

Finally she remembered and it hit her like the cold.

There she stood; starring up into the face of a giant. Escaflowne, the machine she had had many dreams and nightmares about. Catching her breath she turned around and scanned the scenery.

There was the monument which represented the past rulers of Fanelia who had passed on.

There was the place Van and Hitomi had had their last goodbyes…

But it wasn't their last goodbye. She came back to him… he just… wasn't there.

She felt herself tensing and decided she had better keep going.

Not knowing where the path lead, Hitomi followed a path that was to her left, but not the path she had taken to get there. She was not ready to go back to the castle just yet.

Walking, she shivered at the wind hitting her bear legs and wished she had actually just taken a nap instead of going for a run.

About to give up and go back the way she had come from, Hitomi came across a pond- no… more like a small lake…

She went up to it deciding to splash some water on her face to clear her thoughts, but was surprised when she found the water warm… not cold.

With a smile, Hitomi knew this was exactly what she needed.

* * *

Van, watching Merle walk right past him, smiled to himself and jumped out from the tree he was hiding behind.

She had thought he had gone into the castle, but he wasn't ready to back to his job of ruling a country just yet. Walking in the opposite direction of Merle and his castle, he walked back towards the way he had come.

Van knowing the path off by heart let his feet lead him to the place that always made him feel a little better about himself.

Looking up into the face of Escaflowne, Van gave him his silent salute and walked towards the stone monument with ancient Fanelian scriptures written all over it.

Kneeling down, Van had an eerie feeling pass through him telling him he was not alone. Pulling his head up from his prayer, Van looked hastily around. Seeing nothing, he looked back down and listened to his surroundings.

There. There was the sound, he had heard it.

Jumping up from his Kneeling position, Van pulled out his sword and swung it around him. Seeing nothing around him, he made his way around the small clearing which he stood in.

There. He heard it again.

Jumping towards the path which he heard the noise coming from, he made his way towards the forbidden springs.

The noise was familiar to him now. The ripples and slight movements from the springs filled his ears and he felt himself foolish for not remembering that they were there.

Laughing at himself, he was about to turn around and walk back to the clearing when he noticed something small in the corner of his eye. Walking towards it, he picked up a weird pair of shoe he had never seen before, laying at the side of the spring.

He suddenly brings his head up to scan around him having noticed who the shoe belonged to and sees the figure lying in the pool of water face-up.

Without a moment lost, he jumped into the water and starts splashing towards the body lying face-up in the water.

* * *

This was nice. Just as she had thought it would be.

With everything that had been troubling her in the past few days… it all just seemed to wash away as the unsuspected warmth flowed through her sore body, seemingly making all her hurts disappear.

She knew that as soon as she would get out, her body would buckle under the frigid cold wind that was plaguing the surface above her. She slowly brought her head out of the water like a crocodile would, looking for prey.

Making ripples in the water with her hand, she slowly turned her body upward and lay on her back facing the trees that gently moved with the breeze, seemingly caressing the air above her.

She shouldn't have come here.

She had a feeling she wasn't welcome.

Her clothed would freeze her to death once she got out. She cursed herself for not thinking ahead and getting an extra pair of clothes before jumping in the unsuspecting water.

Once she got out, she would be so cold; she would for sure get pneumonia. Millerna and Ellerie would be furious.

_Let them be furious._ She thought as she slowly let her head slip under the warm water drowning out the whistle of the wind. From then on the only sound she could hear was the gentle beating rhythm of the water itself.

* * *

He didn't even think as he jumped into the water with his shoes on splashing towards the body lying in the forbidden springs.

As he got closer, recognition flew through his mind and his heart starting racing even faster than before.

Diving towards the woman lying calmly in the water he couldn't even think while he scooped her up and started lightly slapping her face to see if she would wake.

His heart almost stopped as the green eyes he knew so well opened in shock as he cradled her in his arms.

"What are you doing!?" She yelled surprised.

"What do you mean, 'What am I doing?' I'm saving your life!" He yelled almost dropping her back into the water he had picked her up from.

"Saving my life?" She questioned almost to herself. "Why would I need you to save my life? How is my life in any need of being saved?!" She asked, surprised and almost scared that something was going on she wasn't aware of.

Van looked at her confused. "You weren't drowning."

"No I wasn't… I was swimming." She said almost testing her words.

"No you weren't. You were lying still as if you were hurt." He said. He couldn't understand that someone would just lie still in the water. You don't lie in water.

"I was relaxing." Hitomi said a bit calmer. She could tell he was obviously very concerned for her, and he probably was scared also, finding someone in the water.

Pulling all the courage she had to not bite off his head, like she usually would, she finally said; "Thank you. Even if my life didn't need saving… thank you for trying to... save me."

His face was as red as a tomato and he almost dropped her back into the water to hide the blush.

Silence surrounded them for a moment as they both realised that he was still holding her.

Wanting to run away in embarrassment, Hitomi slowly got down from his arms and looked up at him once more.

"We should head back I guess." She said trying to keep the situation under control. "We don't want to get a cold from standing out here too long."

With that they both made their way to the shore. Picking up her belongings, Hitomi felt a cold shiver run through her body.

It… was freezing cold.

Their clothes clung to them as their bodies ached in protest to the walking. Van, trying not to look as cold as he felt, asked her if she wanted to go back in the hot springs while he fetched some guards to come get her and bring some towels for her to dry off.

As nice as that sounded, she knew that he was just as cold as she was, and that she would have to suck it up as much as she could.

Slowly making their way back to the castle, they actually started a conversation that ended up with them talking about the old days.

Laughing, they remembered the times that were good, instead of the times that were bad. They decided that that subject was better left untouched for now. They were having such a good time despite the cold. They forgot all about being separated while they were still teenagers, and instead decided that some things were better left unsaid.

When they made it to the castle, guards immediately came out to help their sore bodies move to the library where there was a warm fireplace started.

Sitting in the room with a warm blanket around her, Hitomi couldn't stop looking at the way Van's eyes seemed to glow with the same intensified look as the fire. The passion she saw when he talked about the rebuilding of his country was amazing.

Shocked at his open behaviour, she couldn't help but smile as he used his hands and features to show the magnitude of work that took place during the five year period that was gone.

Finally finishing his talk on how the city was built almost as an exact replica of old Fanelia, Van looked over to where Hitomi sat, blanket wrapped around her, hair glowing gold in the firelight, eyes like the color of jade.

They stayed like that for a few moments as they both just stared at each other passing a silent message between themselves.

Millerna, not missing the moment that passed between them, decided to step in at that time.

"Ahmmm..." She said breaking the silence.

At that moment, two un-expecting heads shot up obviously embarrassed.

"Hmm… yes, well, you two are obviously not aware of the time, so I will tell it to you. It is now going on for… thirty passed twelve in the evening, and I'm sure, your highness that you have much work to do tomorrow and you will need your rest, so I must steal lady Hitomi away from you for a few moments as she will need her rest for the morrow as well."

With a smile, Millerna walked over to where Hitomi was standing up and grabbed her hand to whisk her off to her chambers.

When Hitomi was changed and ready for a long sleep, Millerna sat down on the side of her bed and looked at her with a knowing smile.

"Oh, wipe that smile off your face." Hitomi said sleepily. "I know what you're thinking."

"No, you do not. Nobody ever knows what that girl is thinking." Ellerie chimed in picking Hitomi's still damp clothes off the floor and putting them in her basket.

"Oh, you hush. It's just that I have a very active mind." Millerna said with a smirk.

"No, what you have is a very overactive imagination." Ellerie shot back, laughing as she left the room.

Millerna, pretending to be cross, turned back over to where she found Hitomi sleeping, with a crooked smile, still hanging off of her lips.

* * *

Thanks again, I'm hoping to have another chapter up soon. I already have it all planned out, so it shouldn't take so long.

Please review! Please!

It makes me feel so good when you tell me what you think!


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